Before Gwen Stefani and No Doubt make their much buzzed about performance in Milwaukee at the Marcus Amphitheater on July 2, a rising musical sensation from Toronto plans to shake up the sonic hemispheres from its first note.
Originating from a Canadian city known for its cultural diversity, Bedouin Soundclash, a duo of Jay Malinowski on vocals/guitar and Eon Sinclair on bass, fuses the sounds they love. From reggae and punk to folk and soul, a fresh sound comes forth that leaves audiences dancing. No Doubt is among them. In fact, they hand-picked the duo as one of their openers for many of their reunion shows.
Malinowski and Sinclair's band went from taking over Canadian airwaves at the start of the decade to encircling the globe a few years later. The band's popularity expanded quickly as audiences caught on to their sound. They began with a fiery mix of styles in 2001's "Root Fire" and followed it up in 2004 with "Sounding a Mosaic;" the latter produced by legendary punk-reggae bass player Daryl Jenifer of Bad Brains and containing the hit single "When The Night Feels My Song."
In 2006, Bedouin Soundclash found themselves performing at that year's JUNO Awards, which also included well-known acts such as Coldplay and Black Eyed Peas. They ended the night winning the JUNO award for "New Group of the Year."
The following year a single off of their third album "Street Gospels" entitled "1259 Lullaby" impressed the creators of the hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy" so much that they decided to use the song during one of the episodes. On the road, they found their sound opened the door to play with a variety of acts, including Ben Harper, Damian Marley, The Roots, and Thievery Corporation.
The band currently is promoting their recent EP "Where Have The Songs Played Gone To?" which continues the fusion of styles they're known for. As Sinclair explains, they couldn't think of anything better to do than showcase their unique and synchronizing clash of sounds.
OnMilwaukee.com: Could you first tell me a little about meeting Jay and forming the band in 2001?
Eon Sinclair: We went to school together at the university in a town called Kingston, Ontario. And we became friends because we lived in the same dorm. From there we talked about music and we both played an instrument and we started playing together. He was playing stuff that was more folk driven, folk and punk driven, and I knew a lot about reggae. When he played something that was more folk, I'd play something that was more reggae. And it created the sound we have now.
OMC: What was the moment where you two noticed, ‘Hey we have something special here'?
ES: That first time we played I had never been in a band like that before. I had never tried to be in a band and I had never known someone that was a great singer. As soon as I heard him sing I knew he was a great singer. I think one of the first things we did were Bob Marley songs and they sounded great. Jay had some songs he had kind of written in high school and he brought some of those ideas to me. I guess the first song we wrote was "Johnny Goes to New York."
When he started playing it and I started playing bass, he started singing the chorus and I started playing bass line the way I saw it and I felt it. We both realized this was something we knew we both wanted to hear, but hadn't heard from many other artists. So that was how we discovered the sound that we wanted.
OMC: Was it more of an experiment that you liked how it was going, so you stuck with it?
ES: I think we had mutual interest in reggae and punk and ska and drum and bass. We had interest in a lot of similar types of music but we came from different angles on it. I guess you could say it was an experiment but it was more us that we saw a need for it. You know, people in Toronto and Canada are exposed to a lot of different things. A lot of people grow up with reggae and a lot of people grow up with punk but not many people put them together. And that's something we saw a need for -- a sound that's new, based on different types of sounds that we like that are already existing.
OMC: How do you think these styles compliment each other so well that it comes out as something unique?
ES: If you listen to enough music, there are a lot of common threads in any styles of music and it's a matter of finding those things they have in common. I think for us punk, reggae and ska obviously have all been connected, and they have been for a long time...But bringing folk and world into music is something we achieve as well...I think that's something we'll continually strive to achieve.
Both reggae and punk have lyrics that mean something to people in a real way. It's all about social consciousness. As for differences, with punk there's a sense of urgency in the message which is why the music is so aggressive and fast and loud. With reggae, there's a sense of rhythm that's associated with that same message. We try to have a social message but put it to a danceable beat.
OMC: Besides the description of mixing of styles, how else would you describe the band's music? What kind of feeling do you try to invoke by it?
ES: Street punk, reggae, and soul. It's an expression of all those things. It's music with social meaning but that you can dance to. It's not music that people will be inundated with crazy and a lot of hard things to understand. Jay writes lyrics in a very universal way and we make sure thebeat's something people can dance to. Sometimes there's time where you don't realize you're getting hit by a social message. It's just a great song that you can dance to.
OMC: With your ability to change it up, my guess is that it helps give the band freedom in the writing sense and who you get to play with. Could you describe what that feeling's like for you?
ES: We're fortunate to be able to play with people like Ben Harper and at the same time we got to play with Flogging Molly. We've done shows with the Burning Spear and the Roots. But yeah, we get to play with a lot of different acts because the sound isn't specific. It's a bunch of different things.
OMC: What's it like to be opening for No Doubt and where would you place it among your many highlights?
ES: I think it's amazing. There's not too many big bands that can fuse reggae, ska and punk around. I can only think of two bands in the world that I think do it well and No Doubt is one of them. They're really nice people and the shows have been great so far. We're looking forward to coming to Milwaukee and playing the rest of the tour with them. It's a great big step for us...especially since it's their reunion tour, that they're getting back together after five years since their last tour. It's a huge honor and something we're really excited about.
OMC: Speaking of writing, what's a typical writing session like?
ES: Jay will typically write the lyrics and chords and he'll bring them to me and I'll add the bass line and then we'll work on the drum together. There's some songs where Jay has had the idea for all the parts and there's some I've come to him with a bass line or a beat and he came up with the melody and chorus.
Writing just happens, so there's no particular atmosphere to it. We're spending a lot of money on this and we want it to be a good product, so we're not drinking, fooling around and partying while we're writing. We treat it like any other work day where we come in to the studio at 10 am and end at 11 pm and we go full days and we listen to everything and re-do everything and make sure everything is cut. But we have fun and joke around for sure, but we don't waste our time.
OMC: Listening to the vibe of the songs it sounds like you were definitely having a good time.
ES: It's a big thing for us to have fun because if we're not having fun why are we doing it? We're lucky to be in the position to play music for a living and we appreciate that.
OMC: Any songs in particular that are special to you?
ES: Every song has a story behind it. For me, there's a lot of songs. "1259 Lullaby" is a song that I had written, kind of a reggae tune with a similar bass line, and Jay took it and molded into a nice love song about the fact that we have to leave all the time. "Johnny Goes to New York" is special because it was the first song we wrote together. We pay really close attention to make sure that what we do represents who we are as people or how we're seeing the world.
OMC: What sights, sounds, and atmosphere should people expect from one of your shows?
ES: A lot of dancing. We play music for people to dance to, so hopefully it gets people dancing and having a good time, and they leave after hearing something they haven't heard before. But we have a great show typically. A lot of girls come out to our shows and once the girls are there the guys will follow. We like to think of ourselves as moreDJs than of as band.
OMC: Any stories from the road you'll always remember?
ES: Yeah. We've played Leeds festival and were headlining one year in a tent and Jay lost his voice and the crowd took over the singing duties so there were about 4000 people singing "When the Night Feels My Song" which was really special. Definitely a lot of standout shows.
OMC: What about music do you think drives the band?
ES: I think this music is meant for me. It affects people in different ways. I find it a personal expression and that's why I enjoy making it. I like listening to music because it can set the stage for any way you're feeling that day. If you're feeling bad and listen to a good song it'll make you feel better.
OMC: You've already done quite a bit. What's next for the band? Where do you think you'll want to take your sound for the next album?
ES: Right now we're doing the tour with No Doubt and in the fall we're going to write a new record and hopefully put it out early next year. Then once it's out we'll be touring and coming back Milwaukee and the states and hopefully going to Europe and Japan. It'd be nice to go to a place that we haven't been. South Africa is one place we've been interested in going to for a long time and still think that might be possible. But right now I'm looking forward to coming toSummerfest and think it should be a fun show.
